Storage forum: Help!!! Confused about external/portable hard drives

My laptop is running out of space on it's C Disk space, which means I can't store anymore music, pictures, movies, or anything...I've been trying to delete alot, but I've come down to the bare necessities and I still have no space left...Would buying an external hard drive help? Or a portable hard drive....what's the difference between the two? Also, what's the best brand/type to buy? I'm thinking I need at least 120-160 gb to fill up my 80 gb ipod.My laptop is a Dell inspiron 6000/windows xpIf there's an easier way to free up space or to solve my problem, could you please tell me? I really need help!!!

1. to buy a new internal hard drive and a case then swap this new HD with your old drive and put your old HD in the case so giving you a big new HD and an external HD.

2. or they are suggesting you do is put the new internal HD in the case which seems a little pointless for you as you might as well buy a normal external hard drive as it would seem to me as you'd prefer a simple solution.

Some brands i regard as good are Seagate, Western Digital, or Maxtor but i dont know if maxtor do external HD, i also seen a few good toshiba HDs

If I were you i would buy an external HD as opposed to a portable one as they are more reliable (supposedly) they will require a power supply and have a fan in to cool them, they are also faster.

Cost wise an External (USB2) hard drive is the way to go. I just purchased a 250G Kaser drive for $149(Cdn) at BestBuy. The drive inside is a Western Digital which I know will give me many years of service. The software shipped with the drive is also top of the line for backups etc.. Speed is also quite acceptable.

I assume with an external drive one just leaves it connected at all times, and only disconnect it to connect another USB device, such as a portable key drive (of course I'm imaginging a PC with only one USB port).

Question: Does one typically use the external drive for backup, or is a third element needed?

maybe before you worry about expanding to an external hard drive, you may want to spend $20 a 4 port usb hub so you don't have to plug and unplug...i purchased a 200gb external for under $80 on line right after Christmas ..i am running two 40 gb hard drives, (old and newer) and the 200 gib external-i use the external more for backup and photo storage...compared to the "old days" storage is very inexpensive and so many different ways to do it.

Sounds like u do like to archive lots of videos/musics etc. (Me too!!! in Singapore)

Get a harddisk 3.5inches type and then get a separate external harddisk enclosure (USB2.0 connection).

In Singapore,there are many shops selling them as a set. (only SGD$140 for Seagate harddisk, 5yrs waranty)

Main purpose for the harddisk is to archive musics/videos which you havent had time to properly archived. But do get yourself a DVD burner too. Cos i dont supposed you want to turn on ur harddisk everytime.

If you are the sort who are really mobile. Then do get those harddisk which is of 2.5inches, add the external enclosure too.

PS: since i dont carry a laptop, i used a 3.5inches type harddisk. My younger cousin owns a laptop and the 2.5inches harddisk (a much more portable solution)

To answer your basic question: what is the difference? An external hard drive is what they are saying (buy a regular hard drive and put it into a USB box). I think the "portable" drive you are referring to is an already assembled hard drive in a box. You just plug it in and go. Simpler, but can be more expensive than "do-it-yourself". Either way, you will now have a HUGE floppy drive! You can use it for storing anything you want.

While on cnet.com, click Reviews and search for "external hard drive" and "portable hard drive"If you want to take the hard drive with you to use where there is no power (110 volts) you need a portable HD. I have an Acomdata 80GB drive that requires 2 USB ports or 1 Firewire 400 port for it to work, so make sure you know the connection requirements.I also have an internal 3.5" desktop HD that I bought an enclosure for (you place the HD inside the enclosure, connect the cables, put the cover on and its ready to use) but it requires plugging into a power outlet (110 volts) to make it work.

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